“You Are Very Fetching. So, Go Fetch.” Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada

Squid Game meets The Office in Counterattacks at Thirty: A Novel, Sohn Won-pyung’s witty, humane, and ultimately transformative story of young workers rebelling against the status quo.

Forever only one misplaced email away from career catastrophe, Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary. In her administrative job, she silently tolerates office politics and the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy. But all her efforts to endure her superiors and the semi-hostile work environment they create are upended when a new intern arrives. Translated by Sean Lin Halbert, Counterattacks at Thirty: A Novel celebrates the beauty of friendship and the extraordinary power of unity against adversity.

One of South Korea’s most talented contemporary creative talents, Sohn Won-pyung made her literary debut in 2017 when her first full-length novel Almond won the Changbi Prize for Young Adult Fiction. She works in both movie and literary scenes as a film director, screenwriter, and novelist.

In conversation with Naoise Dolan.

Presented with support Literature Translation Institute of Korea.